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Fledging Day

There’s always something interesting going on in the backyard. Today was Fledging Day for the House Wren family. It’s kind of like graduation from toddler pre-school, as the fledglings take their first flight from the safety of their home nest box.

Two of the fledglings flew as far as the fence around the garden (about 25 feet) and sat there for a while to recover from all that exertion. These little ones flew like a butterfly, flapping erratically on unsteady wings a few feet before landing in the grass or bushes.

This one could not be enticed from the nest box no matter how much encouragement it got from its parents.

But my presence near the nest box really set the parents on edge, and they chattered at me continuously using their best scolding calls, which I decided sounded sort of like a slower version of the rattle of a rattlesnake.

The House Wren parents have been pretty busy the last 2 weeks bringing food to their clutch of chicks. Now they will have to show them where to find it for themselves.

Yeah, mine are singing, singing, singing a lot too. I think they might sing more just as the babes fledge in order to imprint their song on them. Either that, or they are trying to convince the wife to lay a second clutch of eggs and start this whole process all over again. 🙂

I just happened to glance out the window early in the morning after hearing that racket of wren rattling noises, and saw those pint-sized little fledglings trying to balance themselves on the fence. They weren’t very good at that either, or in flying away. So that’s why I went out with the big telephoto to catch the action.